Scottsdale Unified parents, community members highlight robotics, IB and CTE programs at district showcase

Speakers at a Scottsdale Unified School District community showcase highlighted robotics and other hands-on career and technical education programs and encouraged families to consider the district’s offerings.

Several residents described the event as a one-stop opportunity for families to meet leaders from all district schools and learn about academic and extracurricular programs. "We're looking for a more advanced education for my son here, and it was really awesome having everybody all in 1 place instead of having to go school to school to school to see for the academia and gifted programs," said Speaker 1, a resident.

The showcase featured representatives from the district’s high schools, middle schools, elementary schools and online programs, according to attendees. "You can meet every single 1 of our high school, middle school, elementary school, online school leaders, tons of teachers, and families. We're welcoming the entire community, Scottsdale, and far, far away to come check out why Scottsdale Unified School District should be the choice for your children," said Speaker 2, a resident.

Attendees described active displays and family engagement at the district booth. "Our booth has been packed the entire time. We've been playing with kids, talking with parents, having fun, enjoying bringing the whole community together," Speaker 3, a resident, said. Speakers pointed to career and technical education as a key draw: "People here could see all of our career and technical education programs. So we have robots, we have clinic assistants, we have more mascots than you could ever see in 1 place at 1 time, and really celebration of IB programs, STEAM programs, dual language immersion," Speaker 2 said.

One speaker said Laguna Elementary received a grant that will enable the school to participate in the district’s robotics program and compete. "Laguna Elementary, they received a grant so that they can now participate in the robotics program and compete as well, which is something that he is very interested in," Speaker 1 said.

A longtime district resident described attending multiple SUSD schools and praised the collection of programs on display. "I am a native to the SUSD. I went to Yavapai and then Supai, which is now in Sonalia, and then graduated from Coronado...Scottsdale is definitely the best district out there," Speaker 4, a resident, said.

The comments in the transcript are expressions of support and descriptions of the showcase and do not reflect formal board action or policy changes. The speakers provided examples of programs and a specific grant for Laguna Elementary but did not specify the grant amount, funding source or approving authority.